Difference between revisions of "Zastone KT-8900 Mini Dual Band Transceiver"

Revision as of 21:31, 2 June 2016

QYT KT-8900

also known as:
Zastone KT8900, QYT KT-8900, QYT KT8900 136-174/400-480MHz Mini Mobile Radio Transceiver, Juentai JT-6188 Mini (6188Mini)

Waccom Mini-8900, SainSonic GT-890, TC-UV8900, BTECH MINI UV-2501

Also: Zastone MP300 20W MINI Moblie radio

Value: $90 - $120 new

Function:

• Dual Band VHF:136-174MHz UHF:400-480MHz
• Step Frequency 5KHz, 6.25 KHz, 10 KHz ,12.5 KHz, 15 KHz, 25 KHz
• CTCSS / DCS / 5Tone / 2Tone / DTMF
• High/Low Transmitted Power 25W/20W(VHF/UHF)
• 200 Channel Memory

• Phase lock step
• Operating Volts: 13.8V DC±15%
• Frequency Stability: ±2.5ppm
• Operating Temperature: -20~+60

• Dimension(W x H x D): 98(W) x 35(H) x 118(D)mm
• Weight: 408g

Manufacturer propaganda: JT-6188 is the 2015 new product , the world’s smallest dual band mobile radio , Its output power is 20w at VHF , and 15w at UHF ,and have 200 channels . This radio is very easy to install on cars ,and motorcycles.

Review

The KT8900 is rated at 20-25W. A 13.6VDC power supply used when not mobile. There is a defunct menu option for Audio Scrambler, the option does nothing. The radio comes with a full function keypad style microphone. Functions include: Menu, Up, Down, A/B, Exit, Reverse, Scan and Lock. The RJ-45 microphone jack has the same pin output as the Kenwood.

For computer program it requires Prolific Driver 3.2.0.0 or compatible, it is a prolific chip cable, not a standard USB cable.

Due to the fact that the Chinese suck at English translation, the Monitor button reads MOM, rather than MONI. Some other annoyances include a lack of an external Speaker jack. The port in rear is for a programming cable only. There is no 2.5 kHz stepping which makes entry of some UHF frequencies difficult.

Some problems with the radio: Volume is very loud. The volume control is nearly useless. You turn slightly and the sound goes from deaf to blasting with little in between. The audio potentiometer is not a correct match. Signal lock after scan sometimes produces no audio. This is a glitch. Cannot connect an external speaker. Apparently, the audio jack in the rear is just for the programming cable and cannot be used for an external speaker.

Cross-band interference is a real problem with these. They are noisy radios. Driving by power lines causes monitor to break squelch and generate noise. Transmissions on nearby frequencies also bleeds though.

Programming

Important Program Menu Items:

1. step
3. tx power
11. rx ctcss
13. tx ctcss
36. memory add
37. memory del
38. offset + - off
39. offset use 00.600 or 05.000
44. factory reset

For channel name assignments, you must program the memory for the frequency, then go back into the channel name mode, enter the name (note: mic buttons much faster than trying to spin the knob on this), and then give it the memory number to assign the name to.

Program instructions for repeater use:

This first example is taken from another source and contains many unnecessary steps. Skip ahead to the simplified example that we use and have verified works.

set radio to VFO MODE by pressing [V/M] Press [Exit A/B] to put radio in Top or Bottom freq use top freq as RX freq and Bottom Freq as TX freq.

1 - push exit A/B XXX XXX (RX)
2 - push exit A/B XXX XXX (TX)
3 - push exit A/B back to top
4 - [Menu] 1 step freq [menu] [up] to 25.00k [menu]
5 - [up]#13 T-CTCS [menu] [up] 131.8 [menu]
6 - [up] #36 [menu] 001 (key 001 ) [menu]
7 - [up] #37 [menu] 199 (key 199 ) [menu]
8 - [up] #38 [menu] [up] + [menu] <------ this is your freq offset + - simplex area.
9 - [up] #39 [menu] key in 05000 [menu]
10 - [exit A/B] to exit the menu programing
11 - [exit A/B] lower TX freq (XXX XXX )
12 - menu #39 [Menu] offset key in 05000[menu]
13 - [down] #38 [menu] [up] + [menu] <----- this is your freq offset + - simplex area.
14 - [down] #36 [menu] key in 001 for your channel [menu]
15 - [down] #13 [menu] make sure proper tone is there 131.8
16 [V/M] up down key to channel 1 and key up repeater ! this should work if not let me know 

Here is a more simplified guide to entering repeater frequencies with offset into a channel memory:

1. In VFO set the top to the repeater frequency
2. In VFO set the bottom to the repeater offset
3. Return to top and press [MENU] + 36 and select your memory channel number and save
4. In VFO goto the bottom and press [MENU] + 36 and select your memory channel number and save

By repeating the save, the second being the offset on bottom, stored in the same channel memory, this quirky little radio will now have the repeater freq and offset freq in memory along with any PL tone.